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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about a missing person nobody seems to know or remember.

Posted in Thriller and Suspense on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 49 stories

“The Shadows of Hackton” by Katie Carr

Submitted to Contest #117

The birds didn’t go south for the winter. That was the first sign of trouble. Henry could feel something different in the air on that red and hazy afternoon when it was first brought to his attention. He was making his rounds in the fields, as he was hired to do, when he noticed a few of the workers had stopped for a break that was lasting longer than regulation allowed. Henry thought maybe they were just testing him, the new guy in charge. As he approached the group, he noticed genuine concern on the men’s faces. Grimsy, the oldest of the f...

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“The Library” by Bettina Karpathian

Submitted to Contest #117

    The flat was cozy and the music mellow. The colors of the Moroccan rugs, floor pillows, and prints on the wall glowed in the candlelight. Nellie got up to refill glasses. In her handwoven caftan, with a long ponytail, and little round specs, she looked like the hippy poet that she was. Sandra had had enough wine to relax. She had kicked off her designer heels and was happily stretched out with her long legs draped over the arm of the saggy couch, her perfect coiffure slightly tousled. Diane had overcome her initial ne...

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“The Bloody Rose By: Bella Roosa” by Bella Roosa

Submitted to Contest #117

Trigger Warning: Violence and Gore The Bloody Rose “STOP NO”  I fall back, feeling the warm blood soak into the skin on my face, covering my eyes. Stumbling, making it to the bathroom. I cling onto everything in my way for balance, feeling for the right path. Finally, when reaching the doorway, I slowly but cautiously walkthrough. My hand’s grip into the counter for dear life, as my knees shake in fear and frustration. As I wash the blood out of my eyes, I feel nothing but burning and stinging—causing my vision to be blurred—I s...

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“Bear Brook Barrel Girl” by Brittley Fisher

Submitted to Contest #117

Trigger Warning: Real Crime Victims Bear Brook Barrel Girl  It was always autumn whenever she became conscious. Time moves very differently when you are dead, and sometimes it's fast, and sometimes it's just still. For the little girl, time seemed to always pause at the moment when her spirit awoke in the barrel.    She remembered the dark, cold metal of the barrel and the plastic as it slid against her skin, all slimy. She remembered the feeling of weightlessness as her spirit looked down at her dismembered body pa...

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“A Forgotten Melody” by Lavender Marigold

Submitted to Contest #117

The world was silent. Not in the absence of sound, but within the true silence that exists in the beauty of nature. A low hum of consistent static rolled through the streets, ebbing and flowing with the breeze. Passing through alleys and swelling over dusty park benches, ancient pages rose and fell. Swaths of dust swirled, carrying with them the quiet of simplicity. Leaves rustled and birds chirped, echoing melodies from eons past warped through the refrains of new generations.The ecosystem lived in a harmonious balance. Nothing disturbed th...

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“The Well. *Trigger Warning: Description of death.*” by Fergus Snow

Submitted to Contest #117

The WellIt’s a devil of a thing, to buy a house. Travelling here and there and everywhere, in search of a home that would best fit. I’m a single man and for a long time have been. I’d spent a good many years working a well-paying job and had now accrued enough money to buy a house in a countryside town. I looked forward to spending my days enjoying the many perks of living in the country; perhaps working part-time, reading, and essentially doing what I fancy. I’d imagine I might meet someone, too. It happened that I found the most perfect ho...

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“Unheard cries” by Jahson Clarke

Submitted to Contest #117

CW: Strong Language The feeling of being unwanted is heart wrenching, but being a ghost is unfathomable. Liam stood by the purring work truck that hugged the shoulder of the road. On both sides of the road stood tall majestic trees and stretches of brush. Liam awaited approval to open the passenger door. He saw the upper part of a silhouette in the truck nod and heard the clicking sound followed by the windows being manually rolled down. The full moon revealed a scruffy old man with a devious smile.  “What happened to ya kid, you ...

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“The Disappearing Spouse” by Judythe Guarnera

Submitted to Contest #117

THE DISAPPEARING SPOUSE Cast: Protagonist                                                                                   ME Stri...

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“The Lost Hillsboro Boys” by Lane McDonough

Submitted to Contest #117

The Lost Hillsboro BoysI used to play the guitar.“What did you say, David?”“Did I just say that out loud?”“You did. But we’ve already discussed how brain injuries can change personalities. Would you like to change the subject, or stick with what we’ve been discussing?”“My 25th high school reunion?”“So, are you planning on attending?”“No way. No.” I shook my head. “Damn, I don’t know why I even mentioned it,” I said aloud to myself. “Or the guitar.”“Freudian slip? I think there’s something here that we need to unpack.”“Doc, there’s nothi...

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“Invisible Threads” by Carrie Fitzgerald

Submitted to Contest #117

I lost my brother. People usually mean death when they say that, but I had no reason to believe my brother was actually dead. When I began looking for him, I couldn’t remember how long it had been since that one afternoon, when after years of absence, I had met him at his workplace- a Ford dealership in rural upstate New York. After, we back to his apartment for a dinner of take-out pizza. We talked- laughed even- for hours, all the while careful to keep the past in its hiding place.   After that brief meeting, I wrote him, maybe...

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“My Precious Child” by Isabelle Ray

Submitted to Contest #117

A young girl travailed up the overgrown steep hill. With the Highland winds blowing through her hair, she heard the sheep’s bleats getting louder. Lambs cried for their mothers’ safe warmth as the tempestuous winds became more intense. Despite her family’s pleas to not venture to the cemetery on the cusp of a storm, Alana had remained persistent in her tradition to visit her birth mother’s grave every year on Samhain. The town found Alana cradled in her birth mother’s arms on Samhain. Unfortunately, her birth mother had already passed from b...

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“Penumbra” by Kinjal Sukani

Submitted to Contest #117

It was late evening on one of the most beautiful Autumn day. Leaves on the trees in the backyard hang loosely and have started to look more like slightly dreamy orange falling on the ground as wind blows. It was gloomy outside and dark clouds had completely covered sky; gentle air was blowing which made the weather little cold. Raindrops slowly falling from the sky were touching the window glass softly. After a long and tiring day at work, Kai changed into her loose white top and dark grey joggers pant. She is a young 25-year old wom...

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“Return” by Christine Hedrick

Submitted to Contest #117

Ten Years Ago:        It had happened while Kira was strolling through a busy parking lot, in the light of day, nodding absently to the chatter of her three-year-old. How had no one noticed or helped her? She had felt the sharp prick of a needle in her arm and caught a glimpse of a gloved hand holding a syringe. She reached feebly for her confused little boy in the shopping cart as her mind and body folded inwards.        When she regained consciousness, Ki...

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“Missing” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #117

What happen to Grace Anderson? Point lookout, Halloween five years ago Grace Anderson disappeared into thin air. Grace Anderson disappeared at a Halloween party hosted by her best friend Leah. No one saw her leave the party. No one even remembered Grace being at the party until the next day when her parents filed a missing person's report. The sheriff didn't do anything to help Grace's parents find her, he told them she will come back, she's just a teenager, but Grace never came home after a week of waiting. The search for Grace began ...

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“Sacrifice” by Brielle Walters

Submitted to Contest #117

(Warning: Character Death!) I don’t know where I am. One moment I’m walking home from school and the next I find myself here. I am tied to an old, wooden chair in a room I can't see far in. The room is dark, but there is little light coming from the red candles that are placed around me in a circle. The stone floor is cold to the touch, telling me I’m wearing nothing on my feet. My favorite band jacket is also missing. The smell in the air is thick with dust and something horrid. I don’t know what that smell is, but it has a hint of copp...

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